Page 31 of Major Love

You know who’ll be up here, in the mountains?

I brush a loose curl out of my face, feeling my cheeks heat up at the thought of Jason, his towering frame and composed expression as he told me about his job with the search-and-rescue team.

A job that, in some ways, could almost be as perilous as his last one.

He’s going to be driving into these mountains when there are literal blizzards? When people are in already dangerous situations, maybe at a rock ledge, or facing an animal?

Jason is going to be the guy who comes up here and tries tosavethem?

While Tucker turns to Haven and asks her some gently-whispered questions about the snow, my mind goes back to this morning wherein I finally made a move.

It’s been almost a full week since Jason came over and, seeing as he hasn’t been back at the cabin to work on Casey’s yard, I finally messaged him.

In my defence, the text was tiny, just to say hey and that I wouldn’t be in his way if he was coming over this morning. But admittedly I’m a little bummed that he didn’t get back in touch.

With the spotty cell service around here, Jason may not have even received my message yet.

But I’m secretly chewing my lower lip to bits because there’s another reason why he might not have responded.

It’s a lazy Saturday morning, and he’s probably in bed with some small-town hottie.

I blink hard, trying to choke down that gut-churning thought.

I mean, Jason didn’t outright tell me that he was actually single…

And his chosen career still puts the fear of God into me…

I glance up toward the snowy treetops, wondering if anything has changed in all these years.

Haven finishes fastening up Tucker’s outfit and then the three of us begin our trek up the shimmering forest walkway.

“How long will you be staying in Phoenix Falls?” Haven asks, as a gentle snow-drift mists softly over us.

“At least until Casey’s home,” I tell her. “But, after that, I honestly don’t know.”

“Did you keep your place in Nashville?” she asks.

“Yeah,” I admit.

But I haven’t decided whether or not I want to be back in paparazzi-central. The press, the fans… my final week in Nashville was ridiculously intense.

“Everything’s up in the air right now,” I continue. “There are some amazing pros to being in Tennessee, but also some seriously crappy cons about what went down for me in Nashville.”

“Which are?” Haven prompts gently, looking over to me from under her lashes.

I bite nervously into my lower lip, not sure of exactly how much I should say.

“This stays between us, right?” I ask her, before turning my gaze back to the pines. “I’m not ready to discuss everything with Casey yet.”

“It stays between us,” she agrees. “Us and the little ears down there,” she adds, gesturing toward Tucker.

But Tucker’s so distracted by the snow that I just breathe out a laugh, nodding as I walk carefully around a larger snow pile.

“The con is that the media is currently going crazy over the idea of me dating Riley, which is totally ridiculous, but people believe what they want to hear. I mean, it’s good for him because his fans will love him regardless, but for me? I’m just some Nashville millionaire, swooping in and ‘stealing their man’.”

I roll my eyes at the accusation but, jokes aside, Riley is not my type.

“To me, it’s ridiculous but, in all seriousness, Nashville’s dangerous for me right now. The girls in town totally loveRiley Dutton, and if they catch a single glimpse of me, they’ll want to murder me. Literally.”

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